Bullet Catch

A hush comes over the audience. The sequence begins again as the firearm coordinator intones:

“Scott, are you ready?”

“Yes!”

“Shooter, are you ready?”

“Yes!”

“Scott, are you still ready?”

“Yes!”

“3…, 2..., 1…,”

A shot rings out, shattering the silence in the theatre…

The bullet catch is one of the most perilous tricks in the world of magic, having claimed the lives of more than a dozen magicians over the hundreds of years history of the trick being performed. The secret to the trick remains one of most heavily guarded in magic.

Making a documentary film about the bullet catch required Scott to step outside his comfort zone as a magician, immersing himself in the history and the staging of the trick. It required his building a team to teach him about firearms. His safety depended upon a deep knowledge of their power and a thorough understanding of their safe use. And making a successful documentary film for commercial release creates the need for a team of filmmakers to knit together scripted ideas and real life situations into a coherent and entertaining package.

Over the course of a year, Scott harnessed the resources of Superchannel, Markham Street Films, police department gun experts and his team to perform and stage the trick. He honed new skills in terms of writing, producing and management of his team to ensure that the trick could be performed safely, within budget and provide solid entertainment.

SPOILER ALERT IN NEXT PARAGRAPH!

In the end, Scott performed his version of the bullet catch safely, and on budget. The documentary film evolved as the process unfolded. The entertainment component of the film was actually enhanced when problems arose within the performance team as the shooter (who was also the co-writer and co-producer) was unwilling to complete his gun training and licensing in preparation for the performance and was asked to step down as the shooter. The tension of the meetings leading to this decision became an integral part of the film.

So after a year of team building, harnessing resources and enduring the moments leading up to the countdown before the shot rang out in the theatre, Scott has been able to prove that you can use art to take the power away from the gun.

STUNT WORK DISCLAIMER: Scott works extensively with trained professionals to ensure that he is well prepared to attempt his stunts successfully and safely. However, despite his precautions, there is a very real element of risk in all of Scott’s stunts. The stunts depicted and described on this website are extremely dangerous and should not be attempted by an individual who is not a trained, professional stunt performer.